Source: Carolina News Wire

Writer: Lisa Bistreich, Patrick Gibbons

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Using visual inspection to screen for oral cancer is a cost-effective approach to earlier diagnosis in low- and middle-income countries, according to a study conducted by researchers at RTI International. 

The study, published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, looked at health care workers in Southern India, where oral cancer is a major health problem, and found that visual oral screening, particularly among high-risk individuals is cost-effective.

“Our results show that screening for oral cancers by visual inspection is comparable or less expensive than the more widely accepted practice of screening for cervical cancers,” said lead author Sujha Subramanian, a senior health economist at RTI. “We hope that the findings of this study will increase screening for oral cancers and help reduce the devastating impact of this cancer on families.”

More than 160,000 people participated in the study, and the researchers found that targeted screening of the high-risk group of alcohol and tobacco users is the most cost-effective approach. They determined that visual inspection for oral cancer targeted to high-risk people could be performed for under $6 per person over the course of a nine-year screening program. 

According to GLOBOCAN, the Indian subcontinent alone accounts for one-third of the world burden and oral cancer is the most common form of cancer and cancer-related death among men in India. Two-thirds of all deaths from oral cancers occur in low income countries. Worldwide, 270,000 new cases and 145,000 deaths from oral cancers are reported annually. 

RTI researchers collaborated with staff from the International Agency for Cancer Research/World Health Organization and the Regional Cancer Center in Trivandrum, India, to analyze cost and effectiveness data from a cluster-randomized controlled trial.

The study was funded by the Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) and RTI International.